Month: February 2020

C2E2: Marvel announces ‘Ultraman’ creative team

‘The Rise of Ultraman’ will be written by Kyle Higgins and Mat Groom, with artwork by Francesco Manna.

It was a bit surprising last year when Marvel announced plans to bring the popular Japanese superhero Ultraman to America. At C2E2 this weekend, the publisher revealed the creative team and some cover art for the series, which will debut later this year.

The Rise of Ultraman will be written by Kyle Higgins and Mat Groom, with artwork by Francesco Manna.

“A few years ago, thanks to my time on Power Rangers, I was able to discover and learn more about Tokusatsu. With its wildly different conventions and inspirations, Tokusatsu — and Ultraman in particular — has been a huge source of joy for me,” said Higgins. “It’s a genre so ripe with possibilities, even down to what we conceive of in the structure of Super Hero storytelling. It’s both an honor and a privilege to bring Ultraman to Marvel.”

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Fund Me Friday: ‘Box City Wallops,’ a new Van Lente + Dunlavey joint, and more

Check out projects by Jim Lawson, the Cartoon Art Museum, Jakob Free and Alchemichael, and more.

As crowdfunding continues to serve as a viable method for creators to fund their creative endeavors, comic-related projects flourish on sites like Kickstarter, Patreon and IndieGoGo. The internet also allows creators to sell their projects direct to fans, through sites like Gumroad, Etsy and of course their own websites. If you’re looking to buy something from or support a creator directly, you’ve come to the right place.

Here’s a look at a few recent projects that fall into those buckets that caught my eye. Send any suggestions of your own to jkparkin@yahoo.com.

Continue reading “Fund Me Friday: ‘Box City Wallops,’ a new Van Lente + Dunlavey joint, and more”

C2E2: Marvel announces ‘X of Swords’ crossover

The X-Men will draw their blades in a 15-part crossover this summer.

Marvel announced a new X-Men crossover series is coming this summer, called X of Swords, at the big C2E2 convention in Chicago today.

The 15-part crossover will feature a bunch of mutants and a bunch of swords, if the promo art is to be believed:

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C2E2: Marvel announces a new ‘Silk’ series

Novelist Maurene Goo will team with artist Takeshi Miyazawa for a new series starring Cindy Moon.

At the C2E2 convention in Chicago today, Marvel announced that novelist Maurene Goo will team with artist Takeshi Miyazawa for a new series starring Silk.

“The opportunity to write a Korean American Super Hero—a woman, no less—is one that I never thought would come my way,” Goo told Marvel.com. “I’m so excited to flex this writing muscle and to explore new stories for Silk—a character I love. Her fierceness and loyalty are qualities I understand and relate to, and I hope readers feel the same as she fights new foes and protects old friends.”

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Jen Bartel covers this year’s WonderCon program book

Wonder Woman takes center stage on this year’s cover.

This year’s program for WonderCon will sport a “wonderful” cover, featuring Jen Bartel‘s vibrant rendition of Wonder Woman.

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‘Michael Golden’s Micronauts Artist’s Edition’ coming in June

Proceeds from the book will be donated to writer Bill Mantlo’s medical care.

Although we live in the age of reprints, trade paperbacks, digital comics and old material being collected in fancy formats, there are certain comics from the past that, for one reason or another, we’ll probably never see collected or show up on sites like comiXology. Case in point, comics like Micronauts and Rom, which were licensed books published by Marvel that were integrated into the Marvel Universe — and thus featured guest appearances by the X-Men, Spider-Man and other Marvel characters on occasion. They also featured the debuts of original characters to the mythos, like various spaceknights in Rom and Bug in Micronauts, who are actually owned by Marvel.

While this made for a fun time in comics, those licenses eventually expired or transferred over to someone else — case in point, both Rom and Micronauts are published by IDW these days. That means we might see Bug show up occasionally in Guardians of the Galaxy, but he’s no longer a Micronaut, and it’s unlikely his buddy Acroyear is going to show up. Marvel owns Bug, Hasbro owns Acroyear, and all those great comics published back in the day end up in limbo in our reprint-driven era.

So all this is to say that besides the back-issue market, the upcoming Michael Golden’s Micronauts Artist’s Edition coming from IDW may be some fans’ only chance to own some of Bill Mantlo and Golden’s classic Micronauts comics.

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Project Art Cred returns with a new story from Tom Taylor

Different artists draw the same script to show the importance of artists to the comic-making process.

Project Art Cred returned this week with another round of artists drawing the same comics script to show the impact they have on the comics you read. This time around, they tried their hand at a very topical script by Suicide Squad writer Tom Taylor.

We had an idea to demonstrate the impact artists brings to a comic script. We gave artists a one page script written by the legendary @TomTaylorMade and they put their stamp on it.

Here’s the script. Check out some of the results below …

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Artists pay tribute to Wein + Cockrum in ‘Giant-Size X-Men’ recreation

Tribute issue arrives from Marvel in May.

Almost 40 artists will come together to recreate Giant-Size X-Men #1 for the milestone issue’s 45 anniversary. Each page will be redrawn by a different artist, including Mark Brooks, Carmen Carnero, Alex Ross, Chris Samnee, Kevin Nowlan, Kris Anka, Aaron Kuder and Mike Hawthorne, among many others.

“The artists were so excited to work on it because the art in this book inspired them all,” said Editor Jordan D. White. “Everybody involved loves this comic book and is doing amazing work. You’ve gotta check it out.”

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Fund Me Monday: ‘The Hated,’ ‘Box of Bones’ and more

Check out and support comics projects from David F. Walker, Allan Amato, Rosarium Publishing and more.

As crowdfunding continues to serve as a viable method for creators to fund their creative endeavors, comic-related projects flourish on sites like Kickstarter, Patreon and IndieGoGo. The internet also allows creators to sell their projects direct to fans, through sites like Gumroad, Etsy and of course their own websites. If you’re looking to buy something from or support a creator directly, you’ve come to the right place.

Here’s a look at a few recent projects that fall into those buckets that caught my eye. Send any suggestions of your own to jkparkin@yahoo.com.

Continue reading “Fund Me Monday: ‘The Hated,’ ‘Box of Bones’ and more”

Nominees announced for the 2019 Bram Stoker Awards

Winners of the annual awards for horror/dark fiction will be announced April 18.

The Horror Writers Association has announced the nominees for the 2019 Bram Stoker Awards. The annual awards for horror/dark fiction include a “Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel” category.

Presented annually since 1987, the winners will be announced at StokerCon 2020 in Scarborough, England on April 18. The nominees in the graphic novel category are:

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CBLDF announces the Rory D. Root Comics Ambassador Grant

New program offers grant money to retailers to encourage ‘community building through the creation of events promoting comics as a valuable form of free expression.’

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund has announced a new grant program aimed at “encouraging community building through the creation of events promoting comics as a valuable form of free expression.”

The Rory D. Root Comics Ambassador Grant is named for the beloved owner of the Berkeley, California-based comic shop Comic Relief, who passed away in 2008.

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Kelly, Bachalo reunite for ‘Nonstop Spider-Man’

New action-oriented title from Marvel starts up in June.

Marvel has announced a brand-new Spider-Man title by the team of Joe Kelly and Chris Bachalo — Nonstop Spider-Man.

“[Editor] Nick Lowe has a super-power,” Kelly said. “He picks up the phone, calls me, and says the exact combination of words that make me want to drop everything and dive head first into the Marvel Universe. Last time it was Spider-Man, Deadpool, Ed McGuinness. No brainer, YES. This time it was Spider-Man, Non-Stop, Chris Bachalo. Again, YES…but ‘Non-stop?’”

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